


quid infantes sumus

by bobadeluxe



Series: Better the devil you know [3]
Category: Fortnite (Video Game)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Headcanon, Humor, Mild Gore, Sparring, Superpowers, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:43:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24322228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bobadeluxe/pseuds/bobadeluxe
Summary: Dominion has been trying to talk to Malice about forming an Alliance with The Agency. He knows that she can be reasoned with, and that she will be open to the idea – If he brings it up at the right time. Only problem is that Malice has been in a weird mood all week. Frustrated at something that she wouldn't talk to him about. He would pry, but it'd only make things worse. There's only one thing that can cheer her up without fail.Watching her twin brother getting his ass kicked.
Series: Better the devil you know [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1754572
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	quid infantes sumus

**Author's Note:**

> No Midas in this one, sorry folks, I just really want to write these three together hahaha.

Dominion has been trying to talk to Malice about forming an Alliance with The Agency. He knows that she can be reasoned with, and that she will be open to the idea – If he brings it up at the right time. Only problem is that Malice has been in a weird mood all week. Frustrated at something that she wouldn't talk to him about. He would pry, but it'd only make things worse. There's only one thing that can cheer her up without fail.

Watching her twin brother getting his ass kicked.

As luck would have it, his scheduled training is today! Of course, Dominion is strong, handsome, and practically perfect in every way, but he still trains hard. Well, most of the time. Sometimes. When he remembers, definitely. It’s important to always hone your skills or else you’ll become stagnant, and we can’t have that, can we? Especially now that he’s been released onto the human world, and must learn how to navigate it. His powers work differently here. He’s restrained by the rules of their reality, silly things such as gravity and the likes.

“Took you long enough, Mal!” Dominion greets his sister when she finally enters their training chamber. He gives her a wide grin. “Are we going to spar or what?”

“No, not today,” She refuses and points her tail behind her. “You’re going to spar with him.”

“Who?”

Following Malice into the chamber is no other than Sanctum.

It’s been quite some time since Dominion last saw him, but Sanctum looks the same as he remembers. Covering his mouth as if he could fool anyone when his eyes are flashing red, and his bulging muscles are threatening to snap the leather straps around his arms in half. Someone hasn’t fed in a while. You can tell from how pale he is, even paler than a corpse would be. Which means he’s going to lash out on Dominion even harder. Great.

“Oh.” Dominion grimaces. “Hi, Sanctum.”

Sanctum only grunts in respond as he takes off his douchebag cape. He then steps into the ring, positioning himself opposite of Dominion.

They’re friends… sort of. They only hang out when they’re desperate, which happens more often than either of them would prefer. Sanctum finds him irritating and Dominion finds him a bore. They could barely tolerate one another, but misery loves company. You would think they'd get sick of each other after a while, but they just keep spending time together almost against their will. Sometimes Dominion loathes him, but other times he thinks the vampire is absolutely hilarious. Sanctum once said that Dominion is different from his kind, then the next day he tried to murder him. It's a platonic love-hate relationship if there ever was one. 

"Sanctum has been in this world longer than you. He has grown accustomed to it by now." Malice stands outside of the ring, arms crossed. "You will do well to learn from him."

Dominion frowns. "Is this necessary?"

“Oh yes,” She smirks. “You’re not learning anything fighting your own kind. A vampire is perfect.”

"I don't – "

Before he could finish the sentence, Sanctum pounces.

Dominion dodges him by mere inches. Any second slower at all, he would've been crushed beneath Sanctum, at the mercy of his fangs and claws. Damnit. Leave it to vampires to fight dirty. 

Dominion wants to protest _Hey, what the hell_ or _Was it ever that serious, leech –_ but he doesn't get to. No time for talking when Sanctum closes the distance between them in an instant, and he must brace against the impact. Clawed hand swipes toward him, aiming for his face, and misses. Only manages to scratch against the leather wrap around Dominion's wrist when he puts an arm up to guard his eyes. Seeing an opening, Sanctum doesn't miss a beat as he comes for his lower half, but Dominion blocks the attack with his other hand and kicks out. Sanctum, the bastard, catches his ankle and tries to wrestle him off-balance. Dominion almost couldn’t maintain his footing.

Sanctum is fast. Perhaps even – he notices begrudgingly – faster than him. Dominion could only match his speed, never surpass it, and even then he is struggling. Dominion succeeds in deflecting each attack, avoiding getting hit, but he couldn't strike back. Defending himself blow by blow isn't enough. If he doesn't turn the tide soon, at this rate Sanctum is going to push him out of the ring. He is _barely_ keeping pace. Sanctum is going to wear him down, breaking through his defense, or he's going to slip up when his speed and endurance fail him. None of the options sound good.

"Come on, Dom!" Malice yells at him from the sideline. "You're just going to let him back you into a corner? Fight back already!"

"What she said," Sanctum growls. 

He grasps for Dominion, attempting to get up close and personal. He would've succeeded too, if Dominion wasn't blessed with the power of teleportation.

Dominion reappears at the edge of the ring a second later, his left heel _almost_ extending outside. However, the scorched marks on the floor prove that he is still in the game. It's a precarious position, where he is at a safe distance away from Sanctum, far enough that he may be able to find an opening. Yet he is only half a step away — maybe less — from losing this fight entirely. It's a difficult line to toe, but if anyone could do it, it has to be Dominion.

With a flick of his wrist, the chain around Dominion's arm unravels. He's freed, albeit momentarily, of its eternal prison. The chain disentangles and floats mid-air, defying gravity, emitting a blazing glow. Then it snaps into a whip and erupts with hellfire. Dominion lashes into Sanctum's direction the second he jumps forward again. The vampire dodges to the side, but the chains-whip loosens further and sears into his leather armor. There's now a trail of fire burning on his chest, but Sanctum hardly looks bothered.

"Parlour's tricks," He scoffs. The mask couldn't cover the disdain.

"Oh yeah?" Dominion smirks. "Let's see you do better."

Sanctum puts the fire out with his hand, unflinched. "Observe."

It goes back and forth like that for what feels like _hours_ . Both of them taking turns at each other, not quite managing to land the finishing blow which stretches the fight longer and longer. It frustrates him to no end. Dominion knows he could do better. He's _supposed_ to be stronger, more agile than this walking corpse could compare. Instead he's getting his teeth kicked in with Sanctum steel-toed boots because this cursed island makes him sluggish and weak.

The longer they fight, the faster his heart beats, which in turn antagonizes the vampire further. Sanctum is already repressed, but when starved for blood he's at a level not to be underestimated. He could hear every drop of tainted, demonic blood pumping through his veins. If he couldn't get his fangs on Dominion, then the least he could do is taking out his frustration on him. 

Malice alternates between encouraging her brother and talking shit. If her goal is to psyche him into losing, then she is about to get what she wants. After a long struggle the fight draws to an end, with Dominion attempting to put Sanctum in a submission hold and failing miserably. Sanctum overpowers him, snapping out of the chain wrapping around his neck, and reversing their positions. Now Dominion is the one being put under, Sanctum's legs crushing him in place and his bicep is pressed tight against his throat.

"Yield!" Sanctum chokes him. Dominion could feel his bones strain under his sheer strength. Holy hell, when did he get this strong?

"Hell..no..!" Dominion struggles against him to no avail. Sanctum is too heavy to be thrown off of his back, especially with the added leather and steel armor. 

"Teleport away, dumbass!" Malice has the audacity to _boo_. 

Seriously?!

Dominion tries, but he just couldn't. In theory, he should be able to teleport at whim, but earth messes with his power. Reality refuses to be bent, arguing with the simple logic that Dominion shouldn't be able to move with the weight currently restraining him. His vision grows dark at the edges as Sanctum cuts off his air supply completely. The tell-tale smoke that would be followed by the activation of his power is only puffing uselessly in the air, as Dominion is still trapped there, unmoved.

"Yield or I will bleed you dry," Sanctum threatens. Frankly, Dominion is surprised he hasn't torn off his mask and penetrated him already. Being this close must be torture for him.

"Dom, come on! You can do it!" Oh, _now_ she wants to cheer for him.

Dominion grabs onto Sanctum's arm with both hands, claws digging into the leather. He couldn't pierce through his armor, but that's not what he is trying to do. Once he grips Sanctum tight, and their bodies are pressed against each other as close as can be, Dominion inhales. The cloud of smoke surrounding him is absorbed back into his body, his irises turn black as his skin begins to _glow_. The hellfire inside him burns bright, flecks of embers fall from his horns and molten lava pour out of the bullet scars in his body.

"I'm.. going to.. burn you to hell, leech!"

Sanctum _screams_.

When he disentangles himself from Dominion, it's already too late. The front half of his body suffers worse than third degree burn, too severe for his vampire regeneration to keep up with. His armor is left in tatter, his mask falls apart, revealing his disfigured mouth. Part of his lips and most of his face is torn up, you could see his skeleton peeking out of the rotten skin. Rows of sharp teeth and red gum fully on display. His arms are nothing but bones. Damn, he looks miserable, and smells just as horrible too. A corpse that almost went through cremation.

“Ha!” Dominion stands up proud, grinning from ear to ear. “How about that for a palour’s trick, you little – “

Sanctum punches him upside the head, knocking him out instantly.

* * *

When Dominion comes to, he’s lying on the floor. Malice is hovering above him, looking half-amused, half-disappointed. 

“You were doing so well too, _brother_ ,” She uses the word with an incredible amount of sarcasm.

“Yeah, well…” He doesn’t have an excuse, actually. “How about you lend your brother a hand and help him get up, hm?”

“Nah, I don’t think so,” Malice says and then kicks him in his side. “Get up!”

“Ouch! Ouch! Okay! Goddamn! I’m up!”

Sanctum rejoins them as Dominion gets back up on his feet, having left earlier to don his douchebag cape. He doesn’t look worse for wear. Already got a new mask on, and back to looking pretty now that his body regenerates itself to the state he was when he ‘died’. Vampires.

“You better smarten up Dom,” Malice scolds him. “Sanctum is going to be your training partner from now on. I don’t have time to babysit your dumb ass, and it seems you learn better with negative reinforcement.”

“Aw, is this going to be a regular thing?” Malice just shrugs at him. “Ugh."

“I’m not too happy about this arrangement either, imp.” Sanctum rolls his eyes.

“Play nice boys,” Malice warns. “Now, I have businesses to attend to, so if you boys will excuse me…”

“Wait, Mal! I have something to talk to you about!”

She’s already gone, teleporting ahead of them out of the door. “Later, Dom.”

Damn.

_Did he just get his ass kicked for nothing?_

Now he’s left alone with Sanctum one on one. Awkward. He does look calmer, though. More stable. Thanks to kicking Dominion around a bunch. Sanctum’s main outlet happens to be violence, so this arrangement must be more beneficial to him than he wants to let on. It’s not like he’s going to find a therapist suited for a thousand years of repressed rage any time soon. 

“So… mi sodalis,” Dominion breaks the silence. “Wanna hang out?”

“Not if I can help it.” Sanctum scoffs, but he doesn’t leave.

“How are you and Dusk?”

“We broke up.”

“What?!” Dominion turns to look at him so quick he almost snaps his neck in half. “ _Again?_ That’s the third time this month! What are you two’s problems?!”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m better off for it,” He claims. Even with the mask on, Dominion could see his jaws clench. “Relationships are a distraction, nothing more. One you grow content and settle down with someone who will embrace you unconditionally, you stop improving."

Dominion frowns. “I.. don’t think Dusk is that kind of girl? I remember her giving you shit for ‘crossing your arms too much’. Doesn’t sound like uncritical acceptance to me.”

“Look at you as an example.” Oh, he’s just going to ignore Dominion like that. Okay. “You are _obsessed_ with that human. Not only that it’s unbecoming of your kind, you grew weak. You fought like a fledgling. It’s shameful. I’m ashamed on your behalf.”

“Wow, you’re really telling me how you feel huh.”

“Now take a look at me and my conquest,” Sanctum says then spreads his arms wide to demonstrate. “I once paved the way to my castle with nothing but the corpse of my enemies.”

“Yet you have no bitches. I think you’re worried about the wrong body count, sodalis.” Dominion places a hand on his shoulder.

“I.. what?!” Sanctum jerks away from him, growling. “What… are you…implying... I do not need ‘bitches’. I do not require ‘bitches’. You’re being absurd. I am leaving.”

“Hey! I thought we were going to hang out?!” Dominion yells after him. “Does everybody in this family hate me?!”

**Author's Note:**

> \- I don't want to make all matching skins siblings, and I thought it'd be funny if Dusk and Sanctum are a goth couple lmao or WAS a goth couple. They've been on and off for centuries. I think if you have to be in a relationship with someone for an eternity, you're probably going to butt head with them pretty often. Probably get sick of each other a lot too, even if you do love them. It's a long time.
> 
> \- Sanctum is ANCIENT... because he was released before these two haha
> 
> \- I like to think that Dominion used to have a tail like his sister, but it got cut off in a pretty traumatic accident.
> 
> \- I just like the idea of Dominion and Sanctum fucking hating each other but still stay friends anyway. Masochistic, I guess. That or they just really couldn't find someone else who would tolerate their bullshit.


End file.
